Where do I stand with appealing a PCN outside my house?

Lsalter

So I have recently received 3 PCN's from my local council for parking outside my house, in what is now a Resident parking zone.

I am currently a student living in shared accommodation 25 minutes away from my parents home, which I visited over Christmas & the new year. When I came back down to my house in the new year, I found my car had been ticketed & in turn found out that new zones had been put in place between 4-6pm to ticket non-residents, something that as a resident I hadn't been made aware of.

Upon receiving the ticket I had a panic & looked into what I could do to prevent such a thing happening again, but then 3 days later I was given another ticket whilst I was waiting to receive my logbook so I could proceed with purchasing a residents permit. So now 2 tickets (£35->£70) later, I got my logbook ready to pay £30 for a permit, only to find I couldn't proceed without changing my address from my parents (my permanent contact / driving license address).

The next day I received another ticket, so now 3 (£105 -> £210). At this point I knew I had to move my car home otherwise I would keep receiving tickets, and thankfully my dad was able to come down & fix the dead battery (part of the reason it hadn't been moved in over a week) so he could take it home.

In a few days time I am due to pass the 14 day 50% off period, which will obviously increase the amount I'd be due to pay by alot. Does anyone have any advice/personal experience on whether I would be successful appealing?

Thanks in advance.

Coupon-mad

Submit online an appeal for each one anyway, as the discounts will be re-offered as long as they get your appeals for each one, by the 13th day (not the 14th...people count forward wrongly, without counting the PCN date as 'day one' which it is!).

State that the car was not moved in between the PCNs because:

(1) you were away - attach evidence (could be a letter or email from your parents, corroborating that fact and dates) and

(2) when you did return, you found the battery was flat and discovered for the first time about the new zones, and had had no pre-warning nor seen any signs alerting locals to the change, not even covered signs with black bags over them before Xmas, which you understand you would have expected to see. Nothing was seen in the local paper.

Attach evidence that the battery was flat (= that can be a letter from Dad and or a receipt for a new battery if that happened)

State that they need to check the photos and CEO's notes on each occasion and they will see that the car was not moved and the wheel valve positions remained the same.

As such, it is a fact that the car was parked before the new zone came into force and this was one single parking event, yet you have PCN numbers:
xxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx
(list them all, the appeal will be the same for all so you want them all listed).

Ask the Council to cancel the subsequent PCNs, since this was only one parking event and the car was not moved and was in fact broken down until rescued/started/towed(?) and moved by Mr xxxxxxxx on xx/xx/19.

Offer to pay the first one at the discount. DO NOT attach any payment.

If the above is rejected, take the case to pepipoo for coaching on the next stage:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30

At which point you will be re-offered the discount for any the Council do not cancel.

As long as you don't ignore any letters, the worst case scenario is having to have the case adjudicated for all the PCNs and that's just like a business meeting or interview, with a friendly (usually!) and unbiased adjudicator experienced in ALL aspects of parking law, and they will know that only the first PCN should actually be in play...worst case is you would have to pay that one at the full rate (no discount), if adjudicated against you. Nothing bad no court, no tribunal, no points on your licence, no slap on the wrist!

Check the address the car is registered to now, will you see the replies, will you see the 'Notice to Owners' that follow, for formal 2nd stage appeal? Make sure it is an address where you WILL see the letters quickly don't let your parents sit on this important, timebound post!

ALSO TELL YOUR PARENTS NOT TO PANIC ABOUT ALL THE LETTERS.

Do not miss ANY of them for first or 2nd stage appeal or adjudication, and there will be no risk of bailiffs. Be really meticulous and don't go losing any PCN, forgetting where you put it. Keep them all in one file until this is over.

You are entitled to appeal them all and I think you will get the subsequent ones cancelled at least. Nothing bad happens to people who do not ignore Council PCNs.

If you are unsure with what I've said above, you could start a pepipoo thread now, but don't use a HOTMAIL email to register there, and once you are cleared to post, DO make sure you show them the front of ALL the PCNs and the BACK of one of them (so they can read all the small print).

Pepipoo posters are the experts, I consult them myself & you can post images there.

Lsalter

First of all, Thanks once again for the great response, it has really helped in developing my response to the notices.
I do have a couple of queries with this however.
First of all is the offer of paying 1 notice at a reduced rate. Is this to soften the adjudicator up? as I can't understand any other reason I would admit a reason to pay.
Second is how I notify them of this in my appeal? Do I send the same message in all 3 appeals or the first appeal with the subsequent 2 notices listed by PCN number & pictures of the notice?

Thanks.

Coupon-mad

No, you are not making that offer at adjudication stage (3rd stage appeal).

I said make it when asking the Council to cancel all the rest (i.e. FIRST stage appeal). There are no adjudicators involved at that stage so you need to spell out to the clueless clerical staff why they can't issue PCNs day in day out when a car was broken down.

You don't have to make that offer, but IMHO you are liable for the first one if you were not regularly checking for things like new zones & restrictions, or suspended bays. Certainly all London Boroughs hold locals liable for PCNs if they are not checking their cars' locations for signage regularly.

But you don't have to make that offer, you could contest them all. I just think you have less grounds for appealing the very first one.

Don't do this too late, day 13 at the latest, online. You need that evidence sharpish!

Lsalter

Sorry to ask again but I was interrupted by a neighbor when attempting to edit my message, meaning you replied before I could make changes.

Do I appeal all 3 notices with the same 'details of challenge' or just the initial/first notice?

thanks.

Coupon-mad

Do not miss ANY of them for first or 2nd stage appeal or adjudication, and there will be no risk of bailiffs.

Be really meticulous and don't go losing any PCN, forgetting where you put it. Keep them all in one file until this is over.

You are entitled to appeal them all

I thought the above was clear. APPEAL ALL.